Workdays Calculator
Count a number of working days forward or back from a date.
How this differs from the business days calculator
This tool moves a number of working days from one date. The business days calculator counts how many working days fall between two dates you already know.
How it works
The calculator walks the calendar one day at a time from your start date, skipping any day you have marked as a non-working day and any date on your holiday list, until it has counted the number of working days you asked for. Walking rather than dividing is what makes an arbitrary weekend pattern and an arbitrary holiday list work together correctly.
Which days count as working days is yours to set. Saturday and Sunday is the default because it is the most common pattern, but Friday and Saturday is standard across much of the Middle East, and six-day weeks remain normal in several industries. A fixed assumption would simply be wrong for a large share of users.
Holidays are supplied by you for the same reason. Public holidays vary by country, by region within a country, and often by employer, so there is no default list that would be right more often than it was wrong.
Counting includes both endpoints, which matches the language most contracts use. Where a rule counts from the day after an event, move the start date forward by one before calculating.
Examples
Twenty working days from today. Enter the start and the count to find the date, with weekends and any holidays you list skipped.
A six-day week. Deselect only Sunday to model a working pattern that includes Saturdays, which changes the answer substantially over a long span.
Working backwards. Enter a negative count to find the latest start date that still meets a delivery deadline.
Practical notes
Which days count as working days is a local question. Saturday and Sunday is the common weekend but not a universal one — Friday and Saturday is standard across much of the Middle East — and the tool lets you say rather than assuming.
Holidays are whatever you supply. There is no built-in national calendar, because holidays vary by country, by region and by employer, and a wrong built-in list is worse than none at all.
Counting includes both endpoints, which matches most contractual language. If your rule counts from the day after an event, shift the start date forward by one before you calculate.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from the business days calculator?
This tool moves a number of working days from one date. The business days calculator counts how many working days lie between two dates you already have.
Is the start date counted?
No. Counting starts the following day, so “5 working days from Monday” lands on the next Monday with a Saturday–Sunday weekend.
What if my weekend is not Saturday and Sunday?
Pick a different weekend pattern. Friday–Saturday and single-day weekends are supported.
Are public holidays excluded automatically?
No. There is no built-in national calendar, because working days differ by country, region and employer. Enter the holidays that apply to you and they are excluded from the count.
Can I count backwards from a deadline?
Yes. Enter a negative number of working days to find the latest date you can start and still finish on time.
Does the count include the start date?
Yes, both endpoints are included, which matches most contractual language. If your rule counts from the day after, shift the start forward by one.
What if a holiday falls on a weekend?
It is already excluded as a weekend, so listing it changes nothing. Where your country moves the day off to the Monday, list that observed date instead.
Can I use it for school terms?
Yes. Set the non-working days and add the closure dates; the arithmetic is the same whatever the calendar is for.
How many working days are there in a year?
Roughly 250 for a Monday-to-Friday week before holidays, which typically removes eight to fifteen more depending on the country.
Does it handle part-time patterns?
Partly. You can set which days of the week count, which covers a fixed part-time pattern. Alternating or rotating patterns need to be worked out per period rather than expressed as a rule.